


Saw Straight Through the Walls

by PirateQueenNina



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Daredevil (TV)
Genre: College, College AU, F/M, post lian yu crash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-29 19:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3908254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PirateQueenNina/pseuds/PirateQueenNina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurel and Matt meet in college. Foggy introduces them, accidently of course, but he's happy for them, because they are totally obvious in their joy for two people who have gotten such the shaft from life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting Matt Murdock

She knocked confidently on the door, ready to study.

“Hello?” He asked, when he opened the door.

Laurel stuttered at how beautiful he looked. “I think maybe I have the wrong room. Foggy told me I should meet him in his dorm room,” She said and then went to dig something out of her bag, a notebook where she had written the information down.

He chuckled. “No, you’re at the right place. Foggy just wen to get snacks. And I’m his roommate,” He said.

Laurel nodded. He got out of her way and she came in. “You must be Matt then.” She said.

“Guilty as charged,” He grinned widely.

She shook her head. She looked over to him and blushed. He was stunning. He probably knew that. It was the first time she really looked at someone since that stupid boat trip. She looked away from him, because she should feel bad. Her and Oliver, they were a serious thing, and he died less than a year ago.

"So Foggy tells me you're from Starling City, long way from home" He said, his voice startling her.

She blushed even further. "Foggy talks about me?" She asked, and looked to him again.

He nodded. "You think Foggy would bring someone here and not tell his best friend about it?" He asked.

She didn't know what to say about that. She guessed not. Best friend. Her best friend was dead. And the other, well he was unavailable in his grief. He was taking care of Thea, something she should be doing too. "I just needed to get away," She told him, unpleased with that, it felt like running away.

He knew that feeling that she was feeling. Even if he couldn't see her face, it was in her voice. She was disappointed in herself for being weak. She wanted and needed things she wasn't supposed to. She didn't measure up to her own standards. "Well, Columbia is lucky to have you for as long as we can," He told her as he sat down at the coffee table and opened a book that that had no words or pictures on it.

He chuckled as he turned to face her, "Thank you for not bringing it up," He told her. "Most people immediately have to point it out."

She looked over to him, not quite getting what he meant, but then she saw red sunglasses and the cane in the corner. "You didn't bring up the boat, so I guess we're even," She said.

"Okay, Matt, Lance is gonna be here any minute," He said as he came barrelling through the door with several different choices of chips, some candy, and what Matt suspect was a variety of pastries.

Matt shook his head, "She's already here," He informed.

Foggy saw her standing by the college issue dresser, looking at Matt like she had seen the light. It wasn't like he hadn't seen girls moon over Matt Murdock before. He was kind of an expert on those things, but this was different.

She didn't look at Matt like he was a wounded duck in a handsome body, although Foggy would admit that he was definitely that. No, she looked at him with admiration. He'd done something right and it had clearly charmed Laurel.

He looked over to Matt who was clearly trying to keep a straight face and play it cool, but couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He looked positively giddy. The way he had when they were alone, when the defenses were down.

"So My Cousin Vinny," Foggy said.

Laurel nodded. "I think the focus should be right now about the essay question Professor Earl could ask us. Because he'll want backing evidence," She told Foggy as she sat down at the opposite end of the coffee table from Matt.

Occasionally she managed to steal a glance of him. And Matt was always listening to her.

"You think he would actually ask about what to do when your suit got ruined?" Foggy asked.

She nodded fiercely, "One of the realities of the law is being able to dress the part. And no other law movie addresses it the way that this one does, so yes, I think it could definitely be an essay question,"

"Okay, I'll put it down," He shrugged.

Matt stretched his arms and his t-shirt rode up a little. She didn't notice because she was looking. She noticed because Foggy commented. That's what she told herself anyway. In truth, she was looking. And he had some great abs.

"So you think you have enough evidence to make your case on those essay questions?" Matt asked.

Foggy visibly and audibly groaned. "You did not just make a lawyer pun, please tell me you did not," He said.

Laurel struggled to hide her chuckle. "She thinks I'm funny," Matt said with a confident air.

"Only because she doesn't know how much of a huge dork you are," Foggy countered. "Anyway, enough of this. We should totally go get something to eat,"

Laurel actually for real laughed as she looked at the snack wrappers strewn across the table. "You're still hungry?" She asked.

"You're not hungry?" He asked her, eyebrow raised. "Besides, if I don't take Matt to go eat, he'll just sit there and read his book until he falls asleep on it without food,"

Matt groaned. "One time."

"And I'll never let you live it down, because you admitted that wasn't a one time thing," He said as he stuck his tongue out, even though Matt couldn't see it. That actually kind of made it better.

She rolled her eyes. They were such boys. "I know this great chicken italian place across the park," She told them.

Maybe food didn't seem like a half bad idea after all. Matt got up and held his elbow out for Laurel. Foggy rolled his eyes, because of course, they were already to that point, where Matt would let her guide him, his normal party trick to get all the girls to swoon.

"Well, come on, let's go, stop flirting and start walking," Foggy said as he gestured for them to walk out the door.

Laurel raised an eyebrow, "Are you flirting with me, Matt?" She asked, a bounce in her voice.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Miss Lance," He said as he showed them out of the dorm door and let her lead them out of the building.

Foggy sat on one side of the table and Laurel and Matt sat on the other when they got the restaurant. Foggy early picked up all of the menus and Laurel looked at Foggy, scandalized. "Can I have one of those? I want to see what I want!" She yelped as she tried to take one from him.

Matt put his hand on Laurel's arm. "This is a thing he likes to do. He likes to order for people and if you like it, you pay for part of his meal, but if you don't, he pays for yours and half the replacement to get you something you want." He laughed.

Laurel turned to Matt, "And you willingly go along with this?" She asked him, with an eyebrow raised.

Matt shrugged. "It works out about fifty/fifty. And he hasn't gotten me anything inedible." He told her.

Laurel threw her hands up in the air and Foggy pumped his fist. "You're both crazy," She told them with a laugh.

Foggy put the menus down and smiled at the waitress, "I know what we're getting," He told her with confidence, "One order of the classic wings plate, one order of catfish, and one order of the mac and cheese," He told her with a smile.

Laurel nodded, impressed with his ordering, when the waitress went to put in their order. "I'm surprised you didn't go for the chicken and waffles," She told him.

"Chicken and waffles?" Matt asked, clearly skeptical about the whole thing.

Laurel laughed and nodded. "Not just any chicken and waffles. Red Velvet waffles with fried chicken, drumsticks, plopped right on top of those delicious waffles, with a bourbon maple syrup." She said as she looked at his face and smiled.

Matt still didn't seem so sure about the whole thing. "Red velvet? As in like the type of cake?" He asked.

"Like the cake. Exactly like the cake." She said. "Are you tell me you've never had red velvet waffles?" She asked him.

Foggy looked between them and said nothing. He was pretty sure he could leave and stick them with the bill and they wouldn't even notice. They were so entrenched in each other. Well, Matt might notice, but he hardly seemed to care.

Matt shook his head, "I can't say I have. I'm guessing they come recommended?" He asked.

"Oh yeah," She told him as she unraveled the paper part that held her napkin, perfectly in place, "We'll have to come back and have to share a chicken and waffles," She told him.

He didn't look at her, because obviously he couldn't, but he turned to her, and it felt like he was looking at her. "I'd like that," He said, almost shy. She couldn't help but blush. She technically just made a date with a handsome law student who could make her laugh, something she hadn't done in a long time.

The waitress came out with their food and looked at Foggy for directions as to where to put the food. "Wings in front of matt, Catfish here, and mac and cheese for the lady," He told her and she smiled and did so.

They ordered drinks a little later and eventually it got busy and they were sitting at a tiny table near the corner of the restaurant, but it felt crazy intimate and Foggy told the story of how his mother wanted him to be a butcher for the millionth time, but it made Laurel laugh, and she had the greatest laugh, Matt could tell. She looked gorgeous by candlelight as she looked to her side at Matt and Foggy wished Matt could see how lucky he was with this one.

"This was great," Foggy told her. "Thanks for letting us in on your chicken secret. We'll have to take you to Josie's one of these nights." He promised.

Matt shook his head. "Maybe if we want to give her Hep C." He told Fogy.

"It's not that bad," Foggy promised her.

She nodded, not confident in his decision about that, but she'd been in shitholes before, and sometimes they surprised you with their 'just right' feel. "You'll have to take me somewhere. That's for sure," She told him.

Foggy yawned and looked at his watch, a little surprised at the time. "We should all probably head home. You know, class and such in the morning," He said as they all put money down as Matt and Laurel put money down for the food and Foggy put down for the drinks.

"Let's take Laurel home first," Matt told Foggy.

Laurel really blushed. "No, you don't have to do that. I can get there by myself. I promise I'm not gonna get mugged. Not my first day in the city." She told him, with a little bit of a nervous laugh.

"I didn't think you were gonna get mugged, although now that I think about it," Matt said and a frown appeared on his face.

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I promise. Schapiro isn't that far away from Watt. I promise I can walk there, no problem," She told him.

"We used to live over there," Foggy said with glee. "Matt could walk you over there and back to the apartment, no problem," He told her. "Let him do it. Make the blind guy feel better."

She was a little upset, but she also chuckled. "Do you usually play up your friends disability when he wants to do something?" She asked him, with an eyebrow raised.

Foggy shrugged. "Only when its best for all parties involved." He told her. "Besides, I think it would really make Matt feel better knowing that you didn't get mugged on the way to the elevator."

She nodded. "Fine," She said as she put her hand in Matt's. "We drop Foggy off first, though," Laurel insisted.

Laurel and Matt walked hand in hand, with his other one clutching his cane which he waved in front of them, after they dropped Foggy off at Watt hall. "I'm glad that Foggy asked you to come have a study date with him," He told her.

She brushed some of her behind her ear. "I'm glad too. God, I don't think I've smiled this much since," She sighed. "Since the accident."

"You have a great smile," He told her. "You should definitely be able to use it more."

She shook her head. "You can't even see." She told him with a chuckle.

He nodded. "Yeah, but I can hear it in your voice. You were so passionate about those damn waffles. Anyone whose that passionate about anything, they have to have a great smile," He told her with a big smile, "That's fact," He said.

She looked at him. "You're sure about that?" She asked.

"Wouldn't say it if I wasn't," He promised her.

They crossed 114th and she thought that maybe there was something to this. There was something special about him. "So what do you want to do?" She asked him.

"I want help the little guy get justice," He told her. "What about you?"

She nodded. And then thought about the gesture, "I'm sorry, I just nodded. I know you can't see. It's just habit." She said, flustered. "Same. I just want to help the people of Starling," Laurel said, with an undercurrent of sadness. She'd wanted that for so long.

"Something happened." He said. He didn't ask.

She sighed. "My boyfriend and his father went to the China Sea. He wasn't the best person on earth, but there was good in him. I could see it. He was a person who wanted to help. Even if no one else saw it, I did." She told him. "Their ship wrecked." She continued. "With my sister on it."

"Oh," He said. "That's why you came here, isn't it?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, I came here to feel normal. I came here to lay low. I just wanted to not be hounded by phone calls and cameras," She said as she squeezed his hand a little. It hurt, but it also felt like something he could help with. He could be there for her. "I left everyone important to me because I couldn't handle being the alive girlfriend of the dead cheating playboy," She cracked.

He stopped them and took her into his arms and patted her back as she cried into his shoulder. All she wanted to do was save her city and what she got was a fame she didn't deserve. She did everything. She believed the best in a guy she though was good and he cheated her out of a normal life. "Columbia is lucky to have you. Just like Starling will be lucky to have you back when you go back." He told her softly.

She rolled her forehead into his shirt. "You don't even know me. How do you know who's lucky to have me?" She asked him, but still standing in his arms.

"Because you get flustered when you realize that you did something that I coudln't see. And you didn't bring it up the first time you saw me. And you got excited about waffles. And you could make Foggy take you seriously about essay questions about what to wear to court and you were willing to try to play his game even if you were skeptical," He told her, listing off all of the good he'd seen her do in the day. "You're special, Laurel Lance," He told her.

She nodded. "You're pretty special too, Matt Murdock," She said as she lifted her head off of his chest and looked at him. "You let a girl cry about her dead boyfriend into your chest. Most guys wouldn't do that," She told him and he could swear he could hear her smile again.

He took her by the hand again and walked her the rest of the way home, keeping her on lighthearted topics as they strolled up to her hall. "Favorite song?" He asked.

She smiled, "It's silly," She told him.

"I like silly," He promised her. "I live with Foggy. If I didn't love silly, I'm pretty sure that I would have killed him, "

She giggled at him and conceded his point. "It's cheesy, but Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls," She told him. "I just I've always liked it," She told him.

"Well, here we are," He said with a smile.

They arrived at the stoop of her building. "You want to walk me inside? Or you think I'm free from muggers now?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "You can never be too sure with Muggers," He told her as he chased her inside and she squealed with delight. They rode the elevator up in companionable silence, but her heart beat against her chest, faster than a normal heart, the tell tale sign he had found of people in like with someone.

He felt his do the same thing. The elevator doors parted and they walked onto the tenth floor and walked her into her little hallway behind the elevators, she got a double walk through room, which was a lucky shot. "So Waffles, how about next week?" He asked her.

"Sounds perfect," She said to him, he could feel her shy blush.

He let go of her hand and took a phone out of his pocket, "Give me your number?" He asked her.

She nodded and told him. He put the number into his phone and pressed the call button and her phone lit up, which made her smile even more. "Now, we have each other's number," She said. It wasn't a novel concept, but an adrenaline rush.

"Good night," He said as he stood there, awkwardly.

She kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Matty," She told him as she backed up against her dorm door and watched him leave. Yeah, she liked him. A lot.

Matt went back to the dorm and he could tell that Foggy wasn't asleep, "Waiting up for me?" He asked.

Foggy shrugged. "You were gone awhile. You so like her." He told Matt.

"I'm not dignifying that," Matt told Foggy as he put his cane against the wall.

Foggy rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, you don't argue with anyone about waffles for that long. I don't think I've ever seen you argue about food before. You either like it or you don't and that's about the extent of it. Other than the sensations."

Matt couldn't say anything to it. She called him Matty. She challenged him. She wanted what he did, to help people. She lost people and the media hounded her and the thing she was really worried about was the people she left. "Good night, Foggy,"

"We're talking about this in the morning," Foggy insisted.


	2. Orchids and Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt and Laurel go on their first date, chicken and waffles, followed by a stop in Hell's Kitchen.

He knocked on her door, a little more nervous about this than he had been with any other girl that he'd knocked on the door of in the entire time, he'd been in college.

"Hello," She said, before who she saw who it was.

Of course, that it was him, was an entirely different matter. Her face lit up like the fourth of july. The joy emanated from her cheeks. "Matt," She cried, happily and he couldn't help but blush, because that was the first time he was greeted like that.

"Matt?" A voice from inside the room called, "Like the guy you've been mooning over for two days?"

He felt better because now there was a blush on her cheeks too. Her roommate just ratted her out. "Yeah," She said, quietly, as her eyes drew back up at him from the floor where they had been for a moment.

"Well, let him in, let me get a look at him." The voice said.

And Laurel gestured inside. Only to remember that he couldn't see that. Of course, he can't. "Come on, in," She said.

He did. He heard tires inside and felt like he was being looked up and down, "You're the blind guy," She said. "Everyone in the disability services talks about you," She smiled.

He chuckled. "Well, it's good to know that I'm popular then?" He asked her.

She vaguely nodded and wheeled herself back around and to the desk at the other side of the room. "Well, you be careful with my Laurel here. She's very special." Barbara warned him.

Matt nodded. He knew that. "I was thinking that maybe we could go get that plate of chicken and waffles that you were talking about. I mean I know I said next week, but I thought, maybe now?" He asked.

Barbara grinned to herself. She liked the sound of that. A man eager to keep plans was a man that Laurel should be with. Someone who put her first in every way. Well, maybe not every way, but certainly a lot of ways.

Laurel picked up a crossbody bag, some ankle boots, and a jacket and put them on. She took his hand and smiled. "I would love to," She said, quietly.

They walked across the park. "I'm glad you came," Laurel said as she broke the silence that had fallen upon them. It was awkward or heavy, but it felt a little weird all the same.

"I had to see you," He said with a smile. "Foggy wouldn't let it go. I think he's our number one fan," He chuckled.

Laurel nodded. "Well, I mean you certainly charmed Barbara. She wasn't sure about you, when I first told her about you. Thought maybe I was going to fast. Letting myself get ahead of what I wanted," She told him. "But once she met you, she couldn't help but smile,"

"She seemed nice," Matt said as he put his hands in his pockets. He didn't really know how to handle other people. He was trying to get to know Laurel, but she had people who cared about her. That was good. It also meant that she probably had people warning her off of him.

She didn't look at him, looked at the trees with leaves that changed colors. "Barb is just protective," She promised him. "She was the one who convinced me to come here after the incident," She told him.

He stopped for a second. "Does she think I'm gonna do something?" He asked.

Laurel shook her head. "Wouldn't matter even if she did." She offered, "Because I don't," She promised him. She finally looked at him and his beautiful face, which sprang a smile on it. She cupped his cheek and smiled too. "You make me smile," She blushed.

He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her hair. "Come on, chicken and waffles awaits," He told her while he grinned like an idiot. Maybe love didn't have to be so tragic, he mused. Maybe, it could be exactly like this, he thought as they walked further across the park.

Chicken and Waffles tasted exactly like the passion in her voice when she talked about it. Chocolatey, but also buttery, with mexican vanilla bought from a store where hardly any english was spoken, he could tell that they made these from scratch. Nothing from a box.

The chicken was slaughtered a couple of days ago, but the cuts they received were still fresh and full of flavor, and then breaded and fried, perfectly.

And then of course there was the matter of the bourbon maple syrup, which was made with some decent bourbon and the vanilla they used in the waffles too. It was sticky and sweet and normally he would hate that, because that kind of stickiness usually came with a chemical element, but it didn't.

"You've made a believer out of me," He said as he wiped his face and threw the napkin on the table.

She laughed a little, "See?" She asked him. "And you thought I was lying when I was singing the praises of chicken and waffles."

Matt took out his wallet and put the money on the table for their plate of chicken and waffles and he took her hand, "Let's get out of here," He told her.

She took his hand and he pulled her out and to the subway. He purchased two tickets for them on the C line. They arrived at 50th street 12 minutes later, a kind of dark subway station, but they were all like that. This one had a cutout of a boxing match on the wall and some other ones that she didn't really know what they were of.

They arrived and he took her down the hallowed halls, with buildings as imposing walls of history. He took her down to 49th and into a small little herb shop. He took a big breathe and the owner looked over and smiled, "Mr. Murdock, I was wondering when you would be back," He confessed. "Though, I certainly thought the next time I saw you, you'd be alone," He told Matt.

"What can I say?" Matt conceded.

The man shrugged. "There is nothing that I would believe anyway." He smiled, genially, "If you find something you like, don't hesitate to say something," He told them and went back behind the front counter.

"Come here often?" Laurel teased, with an eyebrow raised.

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't normally bring girls here. But well, let's just say you're not the only one with a romantic rocky past," He told her with a chuckle. "I was seeing this girl called Elecktra..."

"You don't have to tell me," She assured him.

She saw the weight lift from his shoulders and he took her by the hand once more. "I just thought you might want to see something different than Harlem and Columbia," He told her. "And this is where I like to go, when the city gets too stuffy,"

Laurel looked at all the plants around. While he couldn't see how visually stunning they were, some that grew in weird patterns or had vibrant colors, the smell in this place was more than enough reason to come here. "I never would have thought to come to a place like this," She whispered as she looked around.

"It's a pretty good place to do this," He grinned as he took her in his arms and swung around her in a dance move as the fairytale of new york started to getting into its more uptempo stage.

She squeaked when he did it, surprised look on her face that made the old man at the counter smile. They swayed deftly to the music with smiles on their faces. There was no one around to see them do this, except the old man who ran the shop. And when it slowed down again, the dance turned more romantic, a slow dance.

He wasn't sure he was any good at the whole dancing bit. He never got to see what he looked like. She seemed like she was having fun though, her heart fluttered when they swayed together and that comforted him.

They stopped when the song faded into another. "I've never met a man quite like you," Laurel marveled as she pushed a piece of his hair out of his eyes and smiled. She took his hand in hers and ran down the aisle.

He sniffed and if he hadn't been holding her hand, she would have gotten tangled up. "Vanilla," He said, raptly.

These plants smelled like her, but different, didn't have the thin sheen of sweat and tropical bodywash, but without a doubt she paid good money to smell like these plants.

"Vanilla gets a bad rap for being plain, but you stand here," She said, "And you can't help but think that the people who deride vanilla for its simplicity, just don't get it. It's beautiful and fragrant and useful. How many plants get to do all three of those things?" She asked him.

"So pick one out," He told her.

She looked over her shoulder to him and blushed, "I couldn't." She insisted as she looked back to the plants. They were beautiful.

He nodded. "You can." He affirmed to her. "Don't worry," He whispered to her.

She looked between the plant and the him for a second. "You're sure?" She asked. And he nodded. So she picked one, it had good growth on it already and seemed like it would be a good purchase. He took her free hand and lead them out.

Which had her dragging a little bit. "We didn't pay for it." She insisted, wanting to go back inside and pay for it.

"I help Marvin get stuff into pots one weekend every month." He explained with a smile. "Trust me, if he had a problem with it, he would have let us both know about it. Mr. Marvin is not afraid to throw a punch." He chuckled to himself.

Laurel rolled her eyes, but allowed herself to be pulled down the street.

They walked side by side and she glanced over at him, "Tell me something about you," She asked him.

"Something about me?" He asked, "Well, I'm catholic." He told her.

Tommy and Oliver had never been religious. They wouldn't claim that as something to be proud of. They would have never even thought of religion as a thing to tell her about. "That a big part of who you are?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Yes and No. I'm my own person, but St. Agnes orphanage took me in. And you, talking to god helped. Helps when you don't have a family to call your own. And the other kids are mean." He told her with a tiny chuckle.

"Kids are the worst," She commiserated. "What kind of music do you like?" She asked him.

He thought about it for a minute, "Everything really. Music is one of those things that I get to have the same experience as everyone else. It doesn't require your eyes, it requires your ears and your heart and that's as close to normal as I can get," He told her.

"What's it like going grocery shopping?" She asked him.

He laughed. He'd had so many blind questions before, but never that one. Two questions, he always got, how did it happen and could he remember before being blind and how he combed his hair. She cared for neither of those questions. "Normally, I go with Foggy," He told her as he chuckled to himself, "But on days, I can't, I get a shop assistant to help me around the store."

"I go grocery shopping with Barbara a lot." She mused to him.

He nodded. "What's that like?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Barbara likes a lot of the stuff at the top of the aisle, so I'm there for height," She told him. "But she doesn't have as much of a hard time as you do," She thought to herself out loud.

"Who said I have a hard time?" He asked her.

Her cheeks flushed, he could feel her temperature change, embarrassed that she had just made an assumption about his disability. It didn't bother him though. It was just interesting how, she assumed that he would have a more difficult time at the grocery store than her friend with limited movement.

She looked down at her shoes and hadn't let out a breath in a while. "I was just curious. Don't feel bad. Because then I'll feel bad," He told her as he stopped them in front of a tie shop.

She nodded. "Let me make it up to you," She told him as she pushed him inside the shop.

"Really, it's fine," He insisted. "I don't need anything," He promised her.

The associate came up to them and smiled, "Anything I can help you with?" He asked, professional, if not with a certain lilt in his voice that made Matt want to grit his teeth.

Laurel's lip turned up and she put a possessive hand around Matt's waist, "Yes, as a matter of fact there is," She confirmed, "I'd like to buy my boyfriend a tie, but I want to make sure it's a good one. All silk. Could you point us in the direction of those?" She asked.

The man turned his nose up at the very sight of her arm around Matt and her use of the word boyfriend, which surprised Matt, but he wasn't about to shoot a gift horse in the mouth. He pointed, "That way," And left them alone.

"You've done this once or twice before," He noted as they walked over to the silk ties.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Normally, it's with girls. What can I say, I like attractive men, but yeah," She blushed, "Does that bother you?" She asked him, a little curious as to the answer.

He shook his head, "Nope," He told her. "I like a girl who knows what she wants and will do anything to make sure she protects it," He said as he got closer into her space, "Is he looking at us?" He asked and nodded to the snooty associate.

Laurel looked at the front desk and grinned, "Yes," She told him, "Why?"

He didn't answer with words, but instead placed passionate kisses on her neck, which also held a grin when he heard her breath hitch and her heart speed with pleasure. "Pick out a tie," Warm breath whispered as he nipped at her ear.

Her hands trembled their way to a rose and black plaid tie and she shuddered. "Got one," She said as she put a hand on the small of his back, "We're gonna get thrown out,"

He shook his head. "They're gonna throw out a blind guy?" He teased.

She knew he was right. This place probably didn't have enough resources to handle kicking out a media friendly blind guy who could play to the sympathies of everyone he found. "Well, I'm about to lose my plant, so we should take this somewhere I can put it down," She told him, surprisingly firm.

He grinned. "Well, then, let's pay for that tie," He murmured.

She nodded and on jelly legs walked up to the counter, with Matt right behind her. "Will this be all?" The man asked, obviously unsatisfied with what he got with them. She nodded and he rang it up. "Sixty six dollars is your total," He drawled.

"Better be some tie," Matt said.

Laurel placed a hand on one cheek and kissed the other, getting her wallet out of her bag, "It's worth it for you," She told him and left it at that.

Satisfied with her purchase and her plant, they walked to the subway station, this time she picked up the tickets and got out of Hell's Kitchen, back to Columbia where they both lived for now.

They stop at her place to see if Barbara went to the lab because she got some of her best ideas at night and they would be brilliant, so of course why wouldn't she need to wake up in the middle of the night and immediately start working on them?

"Well, look who shows up. You missed dinner, dear." Barbara teased.

Laurel smiled. "Yeah, we were just dropping off my plant," She said and held it up, so Barbara could see she wasn't lying about the plant. It was actual a real thing. No funny business.

"Mm hmm," Barbara said and glanced at Matt, before redirecting her attention to Laurel, "Well, then, I will probably see you in the morning," She added, "You know those equations don't just work themselves,"

Laurel watched Barbara roll out, waving goodbye, even though Matt couldn't see and she was pretty sure it was directed at Matt. "So we should go, to your place," She said.

Matt shrugged, "Foggy's there. So there's that. I mean unless he went to the library, which might have happened, but he generally likes to sleep in his own bed, so you know," Matt rambled before being cut off by Laurel's kiss.

Her lips tasted like watermelon and cherry and she felt like heated silk on his skin. The kiss was over as quickly as it was begun, but she smiled as she ran her nails through the baby hairs that were where sideburns were supposed to grow. "I don't think we're quite ready for that," She told him.

"I can wait," He offered.

He knew it couldn't be easy, moving on. She squeezed his knee and sighed. "Thank you," She murmured.

He shook his head, "Nothing to thank me for," He scolded. "You need time. That's not unreasonable." He said. "I'm glad we got to have today though," He said. It would be a day of memories. Nothing particularly out of the depths of his comfort zone, but she was there, and that was enough for him.

She nodded. "Today was good." She chuckled as she looked at the floor. "Won't be long, Matty"

He didn't know whether to believe that or not, but he said nothing more on the subject. "Put on some music and we'll just lay here, okay?" He asked her. "Laur?"

She kissed the top of his head and he could hear her going through CDs. She still had a bunch of CDs. No one had CDs anymore, but there she was, with her CDs, picking out music they could listen to, a window into her soul.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Saw Straight Through the Walls Banner](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4005733) by [TouchoftheWind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TouchoftheWind/pseuds/TouchoftheWind)




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